Disney outlines plans for Shanghai
Disney chairman and CEO Robert Iger has revealed details about the Shanghai Disney Resort at the Fortune Global Forum in Chengdu, China.
He said the Shanghai development "can’t be the Disneyland that Walt built in 1955 for all kinds of reasons….It has to look, feel, resemble China’s Disneyland. And that has taken a lot of thought, a lot of work".
Iger said the theme park will include the iconic castle, but also elements "that don’t exist in any of the parks that we have".
Every culture has its own customs, he said. Hong Kong customers, for example, spend twice as much time eating as park-goers in Florida or Paris.
Shanghai Disney Resort, scheduled to open in 2015, will include two hotels, 495,000 square feet of retail space, a dining and entertainment venue, and a lake.
Disney set a record on Monday by raising its ticket prices to over $95 plus tax, the highest of any theme park, just 10 days after Universal Studios Florida raised its price to $92.
But the higher fees wouldn’t have deterred Saudi Prince Fahd al-Saud, who was reported earlier this month to have spent $20 million in three days at Disneyland Paris.
The prince reserved parts of the park for his group of 60, and hosted a number of unique special events.
Meanwhile, teen heartthrob and pop music star Justin Bieber brought his own party of friends and crew to Disneyland California after spending some time with Miley Cyrus last weekend, local papers report.
His group rode on the rides and apparently had fun, though the tab was considerably lower than the Prince’s.
By Cheryl Rosen, Editor TravelMole US
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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